International inspectors will be given the "absolute
minimum" amount of information necessary to determine whether US
chemical plants are complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention, a
Commerce Department official says.

The treaty, which has been ratified by the US and 125other countries,
prohibits the manufacture of chemical weapons and requires monitoring of
plans that make certain pesticides and industrial chemicals, including
most chemicals that contain carbon.

Our goal is to have CWC inspections be quick-in and out, with a
minimum amount of intrusion," says Steven Goldman, director of the
Bureau of Export Administration's office of chemical & biological
weapons conventions.

The Commerce Department wants American firms to provide the
"absolute minimum amount of information" to prove that the
declaration about the presence of CWC-covered substances they filed is
accurate, Mr. Goldman says.

No one in the federal government believes any US chemical company is
involved in the production of chemical weapons. However, if inspectors
are to gain access to facilities in countries of concern, the US must be
willing to "open our companies" to CWC-compliance and
verification inspections, he notes.

The US has not yet fully implemented the treaty in the private
sector. But after two proposed rules are made final, US commercial
chemical plants are scheduled for inspection.